The Pull of the Palette

Ahead of exhibiting his artwork at the Club, Member Simon Dalby explains why he swapped spreadsheets
for canvases.

Taking in the sunset from the top of Roppongi Hills one December evening eight years ago, Simon Dalby was suddenly overcome with a desire to capture the scene.

“There and then I decided,” he says. “All right, I am going to start painting.”

Only he had had no formal art training, except for rudimentary painting lessons from his prep school math teacher. The advertising exec’s art experience had previously extended to perusing local art galleries on free afternoons during his many international business trips.

It was while attending a conference in Madrid more than a decade ago that Dalby discovered the stunning New York cityscapes of American photorealist Richard Estes. “Looking at his paintings is like walking into an enhanced reality, somehow better than the real thing,” he says.

Inspired by Estes and that Tokyo twilight scene, Dalby picked up a brush for the first time in 35 years and began to paint. The intricately detailed depiction of the view from Tokyo Tower, with the old Club building in the lower right-hand corner, took a year to complete.

The Briton taught himself through online tutorials and trial and error. Starting out with acrylic paints, he has since moved on to oils, which, while more time-consuming, offer more mixing potential, he says.

Sitting in his home studio, surrounded by completed canvases, jars filled with brushes and an assortment of “potions and lotions,” Dalby, 57, explains how he continues to experiment.
 
“I haven’t necessarily found my ideal voice or expression,” he says. “I would love to explore different things, but for now I am doing just what comes naturally.”

During a walk along the cobblestone streets of the medieval French village of Salers some years ago, Dalby asked his wife, Nuala, to place her foot next to his. He took a photo and later used it as a foundation for “Together,” one of his first paintings that didn’t feature an urban landscape.

At the insistence of friends, Dalby submitted the work to the 2012 Summer Exhibition at Britain’s Royal Academy of Arts, where it was not only accepted, but sold.

“To get on the walls of a very prestigious museum in London, I thought, ‘Wow, maybe I can do this properly,’” says Dalby. “So I made the transition. I planned my exit, shall we say,
from the company.”

Since leaving his job two years ago to paint full time, Dalby has been commissioned to paint portraits of families, pets and his compatriots on the Men’s Golf Group.

For his first solo exhibition at the Frederick Harris Gallery this month, Dalby will present a collection of cityscapes, portraits and a series of retro Japan railway travel posters.

“Art takes you in odd directions,” he says. “I haven’t really planned out the future, except there is going to be a lot more of where this came from.”

Exhibition: Simon Dalby
Nov 28–Dec 18 | Gallery Reception: Nov 28

Words: Nick Narigon
Image: Kayo Yawamaki